Why I March

James Baldwin has this quote that I think about constantly: “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” As a queer woman of color, this Women’s March is important to me because it’s crucial to my intersectional activism. It is important to me to show up as part of a community to show solidarity with like-minded folks, and to be a voice of opposition to the impending administration and all that it represents.

The incoming administration has already shown itself ready to attack civil and human rights and roll back affordable healthcare. Members of the administration have supported conversion therapy, shown hostility to women having autonomy over their own bodies, and embraced Islamophobia and outright racism. The president-elect’s campaign evoked the specter of mass deportations and internment camps.

Marching shows that this is not just a handful of people who are unhappy with the results of an election. Instead, we are a force that is completely outraged by attempts to normalize discrimination and hate. And we are not just going to sit back and let this happen to any of us.

I’m not able to go to D.C. for the national Women’s March but I’m glad that I can march here in Boston. This is my home. I was born and raised here. It would be easy to sit back in the bubble that is my city: a city of liberal and progressive laws many of us have fought so hard to create. It’s easy to forget that there are people across the country that don’t have that luxury. I’m marching because we cannot and will not leave them in the dust. For me, this is all part of a larger movement of justice.

I am also marching as a GLAD staffer because I want to show both my solidarity with other LGBTQ people around the country and GLAD’s commitment to our larger justice movement.

We at GLAD know well that the personal is political. We know what happens at the local level affects the national policy. And I want to remind folks here in Boston and all across the country that we are here for them as a resource. We can offer help and foster connections people will need now, over the next four years, and beyond.